In 1987, Toronto Board of Education mandated the development of standards, called "benchmarks," for students' achievement in mathematics and language at the end of grades 3, 6, 8, and 10. The development and testing of benchmarks stressing higher-order thinking, problem solving, and the use of experiential approaches and manipulative…

Results in 487 reports were integrated by meta-analysis to study characteristics of problem solvers, conditions for harder and easier problems, effects of different instructional methods on problem-solving performance, and effects of classroom-related conditions on problem-solving performance. Problem solving related positively to measures of…

Reports a study to examine careless errors fifth-grade students (n=58) make while solving mathematical word problems and explores the type of student who frequently makes such errors. Results indicated that frequency of these errors was significantly related to the noncognitive variables of the study. Discusses implications for remediation. (20…

Studied effects at grade 4 of early grade retention for 1,255 low-income mostly African-American children (20.4 percent had been retained from kindergarten to grade 3). Retention negatively affected cognitive reading and mathematics achievement, had no relation to teacher ratings of school adjustment, and positively affected children's perceived…

Detection of calculation errors, operation errors, and unanswerable problems was studied for 78 third graders and 77 fifth graders. The relationship between mathematics achievement and error detection was also examined. Older children and high achievers detected more errors than did younger students and low achievers. (SLD)

Data for 542, 490, 464, and 430 Baltimore (Maryland) children in winter 1982-83, summer 1983, winter 1983-84, and summer 1984, respectively, show about equal mathematics achievement of African Americans and whites at the start of grade 1, but African Americans were behind about 0.5 standard deviation by grade 3. (SLD)

Third graders (94 girls and 100 boys) and junior high school students (143 girls and 136 boys) completed questionnaires about mathematics achievement-related beliefs. Girls rated their own abilities more negatively, had lower expectations, and were more likely to attribute failure to low ability compared to boys. (SLD)

Describes a study which explored the effects of a program to help low-achieving fourth and fifth grade students increase their mathematics achievement. Students and teachers organized into a community of learners; the curriculum, organized around units of study with major concepts, skills, and operations, was effective for all achievers. (SM)

A longitudinal early schooling process model was developed for first-year and second-year reading achievement, mathematics achievement, and socioemotional maturity with 1,539 low-income minority children. Data were collected from children and teachers over four time periods. Results indicate that family- and school-related cognitive readiness had…

Explored relationships between 137 grade-8 cognitive items used in the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress and selected themes from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics'"Standards." About half the items related to four "Standards" themes, with most of those being related to problem solving and reasoning.…

Two experiments examined the use of a number-line metaphor presented with interactive multimedia to help sixth graders with varying levels of mathematics achievement or spatial ability build connections between addition and subtraction of signed numbers and existing conceptual knowledge. Results indicated that use of multiple representations…

This paper reports a previously unpublished comparative analysis of data from the ImpaCT2 study investigating the relationship between students' performance in England on national tests and their reported use of information technology (particularly networked technology) for school work, at three age levels (11, 14 and 16), in English, Maths and…

This study assesses the predictive validity of the Phelps Kindergarten Readiness Scale (PKRS) for later academic achievement and explores the utility of a domain-specific measure of kindergarten readiness. Kindergarten readiness scores were significantly correlated with both math and language arts achievement as measured by New York State…

This study of the effects of three years of piano instruction is based on a sample of 117 fourth-grade children attending public schools in Montreal. The children had never participated in formal music instruction, did not have a piano at home, and their annual family income was below $40,000 Can. Children in the experimental group (n = 63)…

The 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) evaluated students' understanding of mathematics concepts and their ability to apply mathematics to everyday situations. Students demonstrated their knowledge of these critical skills by responding to questions about number properties and operations, measurement, geometry, data analysis…